Slow Food’s annual celebration of Terra Madre Day occurs all over the world in Slow Food chapters, in different forms. This year Slow Food Corvallis and Ten Rivers Food Web joined together to host a holiday food fair celebrating local foods at the Mary’s River Grange. The event was organized with the hope of raising money to help increase food security, both locally and globally, and was a complete success at the end of the day. Ten Rivers raised over $300 dollars through prize drawings and donations to go towards their That’s My Farmer SNAP Incentive program, while Slow Food Corvallis raised over $1,000 dollars with their Pan-African meal (recipes available at slowfoodcorvallis.org) to support Slow Food’s 1,000 Gardens in Africa initiative. Both organizations were happy with their outcomes and hope to make a difference in the world, locally and globally, with the money raised as well as with the knowledge of these programs which was imparted during the event.
With a wide range of goods and foods available for purchase from the vendors who sold at the event, those who attended had a multitude of good, clean, and fair options to choose from. These options ranged from farm fresh meats to cured meats, fresh greens and vegetables to jarred preserves, natural baby foods to natural soaps, fresh baked sourdough bread to wine, and much more. New local vintner Miracle Winery provided wine, while beer and ale was provided by Oregon Trail and hard cider by Two Towns Cider. Not only was Terra Madre a positive event for Slow Food and Ten Rivers, but the vendors sold over $4,000 worth of goods during the event, making it a success for everyone involved.
Thanks are in order to all who attended the event, the vendors, and the musicians, Festival String Band, who set the mood perfectly and even got us to dance! Also, thanks to Gathering Together Farms for the use of their kitchen and their parking lot, and to all those who donated food, prizes, time, etc to help this event go so well. Special thanks to GTF, Dennison Farm, Aetherton Farm, and Northwest Natural Beef, for donating fresh, local ingredients for the pan African meal. Without you, it wouldn’t have been the wonderful evening it was! Thank you all!